


As Day Turns To Night

by yueninja



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Attempted Murder, Cameos, Depression, Fantasy, Murder, Sad, age hierarchy is not followed, inaccurate psych analysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 17:44:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14938926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yueninja/pseuds/yueninja
Summary: Detective Oh Sehun takes on a serial homicide.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you @[livcanary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/livcanary/pseuds/livcanary) for looking over this depressing af story for me.
> 
> This is inspired by episodes 9-11 in the kdrama Signal.

“What do we have?” Sehun asks as he flashes his badge at border patrol. The autumn wind nips at his cheeks as he follows a lower ranking officer through the overgrown field.

“A total of twelve bodies was found all within ten feet of each other,” the officer reports. Sehun clenches his jaw and nods.

“What else?”

“All of them but one have been wrapped in potato sacks.”

“What’s the other wrapped in?” Sehun asks, nodding in greeting to the forensics team.

“A blanket.”

Sehun nods once more and waves the man away.

“What are you thinking?” Sehun asks, bending down next to the forensics team.

“This is a serial homicide for sure,” Yixing replies with a grim look on his face. “All the bodies have a plastic bag tied over their head and, it still needs to be checked, but I think cause of death was strangulation because of the bruising around their necks.”

“How soon till we get the autopsy reports?” Sehun asks, standing up with Yixing.

“I mean there are a lot of bodies to go through, but hopefully within the next few days.”

“Tell me about the body with the blanket,” Sehun says as they walk to the edges of the crime scene.

“Fast as always,” Yixing says with a humorless laugh. “It also had a plastic bag tied around its neck, but the way it was disposed of was much less meticulous.”

“How much less?” Sehun asks.

“Not too much, but the grave was a foot shallower and the body wasn’t wrapped up very tightly. Still well disposed of though.”

Sehun’s fingers itch for a cigarette but he resists the urge to reach into his pocket.

“I’m trusting you with those reports,” Sehun says to Yixing.

“Of course,” the elder says with a smile; there’s an attempt at warmth.

~

A week later, he and a group of officers are gathered in the conference room. There are grim faces all around as Yixing stands at the front of the room ready to give his report.

Sehun’s already heard it all, but he sits in the room out of formality, placed alongside the chief and right behind the podium. For the first few minutes, Sehun spaces out, waiting for Yixing to finish introducing the case.

“Now, the killings were all spaced out evenly over the course of four years starting in 2012 with the most recent being in early 2016. All were adult males between the ages of twenty-one to thirty-two.”

Sehun chews the inside of his cheek as he waits for Yixing to continue.

“All of the victims were killed through strangulation by rope. Eleven out of twelve were killed and disposed of the same way. A plastic bag over the head, cable ties on their hands and feet, and then tucked into a potato sack and buried in the forest. The most recent body also had a plastic bag over the head, but the body was wrapped in a blanket and the method of strangulation was different.”

Sehun only notices the screen just then. It displays the necks of the victims, skin bruised to the color of an eggplant.

“The other bodies were strangled from the front but the last body was strangled from behind.”

The room is silent save for the whirring projector.

“As for the identities of the bodies,” Yixing says, clicking his wireless clicker. “We have figured out all but two.”

All the bodies except for number three and twelve have a name and identification picture next to them.

“Alright everyone,” the chief says with a clap. “This is a big case so we’re going to be dividing accordingly.” Sehun makes eye contact with her and she gives him a subtle nod as she continues, “Detective Oh will be heading this case, so report your findings to him.”

Sehun stands and steps up to the podium.

“These are the groups and the assignments.”

~

Sehun takes victim number five’s case. Before he can figure out the identity of the unknown victims, he wants a better understanding of the types of targets the killer chose.

It’s drizzling as Sehun knocks on the door of victim number five’s home. Kim Jongin. Died at age twenty-seven. Left a wife and two kids.

The door creaks open and a pretty woman appears behind it. Her eyes are tired and suspicious. Sehun can hear the chatter of children behind her.

“How can I help you?” Her voice suits her, a little rough around the edges, but melodic all the same.

“Good morning,” Sehun says, flashing his badge. “I’m looking to speak to Jung Soojung.”

“That’s me,” the woman says, opening the door a little wider at the sight of Sehun’s badge.

“I’m here about your husband, Kim Jongin,” Sehun says.

Jung Soojung’s lower lip trembles slightly.

“Come in,” she says, opening the door all the way.

“Jisoo-ya, go upstairs with Jitak,” she says, ushering a girl that looks no older than ten and a little boy who looks a few years younger.

Soojung returns a moment later, pulling her long hair back into a ponytail and sitting down at the table. Her hands are trembling ever-so-slightly as she pulls her wool sweater a little tighter around herself.

“What is it?” she asks, without asking him to sit down. Sehun opts to seat himself anyway.

“I’m sorry to say,” Sehun begins, but she interrupts him.

“He’s dead,” she whispers. Her eyes are looking down at the ground where there are crayons strewn across the floor. In a firmer voice, she repeats, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Sehun says, schooling his expression into one of apology. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

A tear rolls down her face as Sehun keeps his eyes trained on her. “If it’s alright, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Why?” Soojung asks, voice quavering slightly. “He killed himself, didn’t he? What else is there to look into?”

Sehun feels his heart skip a beat.

“What?”

“Jongin, he-,” Soojung pauses, looking up at him. Her eyes are rimmed with red, but her expression changes into confusion. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“No, Jung Soojung-ssi,” Sehun replies. “His body was found in the woods, but we believe it to be a homicide.”

“W-what?” Soojung’s chest heaves as she brings her clutched hands up. “He was murdered?”

“Yes,” Sehun answers, tempted to reach for that cigarette again. “We believe so.”

“But, who would want to kill him?” she implores.

“That’s what I’m here to find out,” Sehun replies. “Do you know of anyone who might want to hurt him?”

Soojung blinks and looks down again. Her hands are held so tightly that her skin seems to turn white.

“I-I don’t think so.”

“Then, may I ask why you assumed he killed himself earlier?” Sehun asks. The TV is still on in the background playing some kids show and the noise keeps it from getting deafeningly silent.

“Jongin was depressed,” Soojung answers. “He was taking prescription medication up until the day he disappeared, so I just assumed he-.” Soojung lets out a small whimper as it seems to hit her. “Oh my god, someone killed him?”

Sehun wonders if this is as good a time as any and finally pulls off his leather gloves, reaching forward to touch her hand.

~

_August 15, 2013_

Sehun looks around. He’s in the same room as before, but it’s much warmer and there’s a glow to the house that makes it seem more lived in.

“Jongin.” Sehun whips his head around to see Soojung standing in the doorway, looking younger and less tired.

“Hm?” A young man turns to face her, clearly ready to leave for his job with his cheap suit and secondhand briefcase.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” She smiles at Jongin, but she seems worried.

“Okay,” Jongin replies, smiling in what is meant to be a comforting way, but he just looks sad.

“Appa!” A small girl appears from the living room with her baby brother crawling behind her. “Can you bring back kkultarae?”

“Maybe,” Jongin answers, smile a little more genuine now. “We’ll see how good you are today.” He gently pinches her cheek and bends down to kiss her and her brother on the forehead. “I’m leaving now.”

“Stay safe,” Soojung calls out as Jongin walks down the street. It appears he’ll be taking the bus.

Soojung bends down to pick up the baby boy and bounce him up and down, while the little girl watches her father leave.

The scene in front of him fades into another one.

“Where’s appa?” the little girl asks. They’re sitting at the dining room table and Soojung is looking to the clock worriedly. It’s nearly nine and Jongin doesn’t appear to be home.

“I’m sure he’s just caught up at work,” Soojung says, smiling for her daughter. “It’s time to go to bed, Jisoo.”

“But I was a good girl today,” Jisoo says with a pout. “Appa was going to bring me kkultarae.”

“You can get kkultarae later, Jisoo-ya.” Soojung stands up, picking up her baby from the floor where he’s playing. “Let’s go.”

They’re ushered upstairs where Soojung helps them get to bed and then goes back downstairs to use the landline.

“Jongin?” She grips the phone tightly. “Wherever you are, please come home. It’s late. The kids are worried.” She pauses and glances at one of the prescription bottles laying on the counter. “ _I’m_ worried. Call me back as soon as you can.”

~

Sehun pulls his hand back and the scene disappears. He quickly pulls on his gloves again.

“Jongin wasn’t hated by anyone,” Soojung says. Her entire body is now trembling like a leaf as she looks up at Sehun. “He really didn’t have any problems with anyone.”

“Very well,” Sehun says, frustrated with the lack of information her scene gave him. “Then may I ask if Jongin had started any new hobbies before he disappeared?”

“Not that I know of,” Soojung says, taking a deep breath. “We were at a stagnant period of our life. I think that’s why he was depressed as well.”

“Did he do anything out of his regular routine? Even something as small as missing a dinner?”

Soojung is quiet for some time as she thinks. “The week before, his company was working on a big project so he couldn’t come home on time for dinner.”

“Where did he go for dinner then?” Sehun questions.

“Um, I think he went out with his coworkers.”

“Could you give me a few of their names and the company he worked at?”

“Yes,” she says, getting up to grab something. “I think I have their contact information here.”

~

“We’ve found something.” The connection in Sehun’s worn down apartment is shitty at best and he strains to understand Yixing’s words.

“What is it?”

“Something in the pocket of the twelfth victim’s coat.”

Sehun shoots up out of bed, remnants of drowsiness completely gone.

“I’ll be there in five minutes.”

He’s true to his word. There’s no traffic at three in the morning and Sehun’s ignorance of the speed limit gets him there in two minutes.

“Eager?” Yixing asks teasingly.

“What are you doing here so early in the morning?” Sehun asks in return, following the doctor down the hallway.

“I couldn’t sleep with the two unidentified bodies so I decided to look them over again.”

“And you found something.”

“And I found something,” Yixing confirms with a grin.

Sehun follows Yixing to the corner of the room where he gestures to an innocent looking receipt.

Sehun bends down to inspect it and sighs when he realizes the lettering on it is practically illegible.

“It’s not what the receipt reads that’s important,” Yixing says, expecting Sehun’s disappointment. When the detective’s head shoots up, Yixing smirks. “A scan of the particles on the receipt brought up a very special blend of materials which I’m not going to list because, all together, they make up coal.”

“What abou-”

Yixing cuts him off with a finger wag and continues to smirk. “I scanned his clothes. They showed up with the same particles in much vaster amounts.”

“He worked with coal then?”

“Most likely.” Yixing’s expression grows darker. “It was in his lungs and underneath his fingernails.”

“How long would it take to build up?” Sehun asks.

“At least six years,” Yixing answers.

“Is this three or twelve?” Sehun asks.

“Twelve.”

“Our game changer,” Sehun notes.

“Hm,” Yixing says, leaning on the counter. “I like that. game changer.”

“Have you figured anything else out about him?”

“A young man. Mid-twenties. Decent bone structure. About 174 centimeters give or take.”

Sehun closes his eyes for a second, thinking.

“A young man who started working at a mining company probably right at the end of high school,” Sehun murmurs to himself. His head snaps up and Yixing jumps slightly. “Is there anything on the receipt you can figure out?”

“Some of the lettering can probably be pieced together, but I - well, the computer - might need a few days to go through that depending on how bad the wear is.”

“When can you start that?”

“Now, probably,” Yixing says, carefully picking up the receipt.

“Thanks, hyung,” Sehun says with an attempt at a smile.

“It’s my job,” Yixing replies with a successful smile of his own. “You should probably get some sleep now. You look exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” Sehun responds. “Can you tell me about anything new you’ve found on the other bodies?”

“Well,” Yixing says, clearly hesitant to encourage Sehun’s sleeplessness. “I looked into their medical history.”

“And?”

“You were right, most of them were undergoing some type of treatment for depression.”

“And the ones who weren’t were exhibiting signs of it,” Sehun finishes, beginning to pace. “Were they all using the same type of medication?”

“No.” Yixing adjusts his glasses. “I think all the victims were low-profile, so they probably wouldn’t draw attention to themselves,” he adds.

“Of course they’d be,” Sehun says, turning to pace in the opposite direction. “If your loved one is depressed people tend to assume the worse when they disappear. Half of the families that were visited didn’t want the extra attention, so the victim goes missing for years and no one thinks anything of it until a cop shows up at their door telling them their son or husband was murdered.”

“Sehun?” Yixing asks in a cautious voice.

Sehun has stopped in his tracks and is breathing heavily as he looks down at the ground.

“Twelve bodies, hyung.” Sehun shakes his head in disgust. “Twelve people go missing and no one notices because it’s normal.”

“It’s fucked up,” Yixing agrees. “But we can’t do anything about it until the bodies show up. Or at least I can’t.”

Sehun controls his breathing and looks at Yixing. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Yixing laughs. “Now I know you’ve got emotions under that cool facade.”

“Let me know if you find anything else with victim number twelve,” Sehun suddenly says, moving past his outburst.

“What, number three doesn’t matter?” Yixing asks jokingly.

“All of them are important, but number twelve is-”

“-the game changer.” Yixing nods in understanding.

The change in M.O. is beyond important because it shows a weakness in the killer’s usually methodical approach. Sehun’s needs to find that weakness.

~

“Jongin?” The man looks uncomfortable, dressed in his impeccable suit and slicked back hair. Kim Junmyeon has certainly moved up the ladder since Jongin last worked there. From the bottom of the ladder to a general manager. “He never went out to eat with us. He preferred keeping to himself.”

“Then where did he go?” Sehun asks. He has his notepad out, but he’s gotten nothing important from the man in front of him.

“I don’t know,” Junmyeon answers. He looks slightly disgruntled as he tightens his tie. “I have a meeting to get to so-”

“You’ll make it to your meeting on time,” Sehun replies sharply. “Your former coworker is dead. I’d like to figure out why.”

Junmyeon looks taken aback by Sehun’s sudden aggression and stops adjusting his tie.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but it was probably suicide,” Junmyeon says, leaning forward like he’s telling a secret. “He was always a little off.”

“Suicide or not, I’m still inquiring about a man’s death,” Sehun shoots back. He doesn’t have the patience for white-collar workers like the man in front of him. “Do you know in which direction he would leave?”

“Um,” Junmyeon pauses to think. “Well, I don’t think he went home. He got to the company by bus but he’d walk past it whenever he left.”

“Which bus did he take?”

“Number 673.”

Sehun finally jots something down and subtly pulls off a glove.

“Okay. Thank you for your time.”

He reaches a hand out to Junmyeon.

Junmyeon takes it.

~

_August 8, 2013_

“Good job everyone,” the team leader says with a grin.

The group is standing outside the company building in the warm autumn weather. It seems to be past rush hour as the streets aren’t too traffic-heavy.

“Now that we’re finally done with the project, we can go out and celebrate,” he continues, brandishing his wallet. “It’ll be on me.”

Everyone shouts in a chorus of approval.

Sehun spots Jongin standing at the edge of the group. A younger, shabbier looking Junmyeon stands beside him.

“Hyung, do you think Chief Lee would mind if I left? I have something to get to.”

It’s a blatant lie and Junmyeon seems to realize this as well but he nods and pats Jongin’s back.

“Sure. I’ll let him know.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Jongin says, smiling softly.

“Of course,” Junmyeon replies, smiling with genuine affection. They must’ve been close friends.

With a small wave, Jongin leaves, walking right past bus stop 673.

It’s not enough so Sehun searches for August 15 in Junmyeon’s memories.

The scene ripples in front of him until he’s standing in the middle of a windy night.

_August 15, 2013_

“Bye, Jongin,” Junmyeon calls out to the younger. Jongin turns around briefly to wave then walks past the bus stop once again.

~

Sehun draws his hand back and takes a better look at Junmyeon. He seems to carry himself proudly, but there’s an undeniable grief in his eyes as he says something about needing to make it to his meeting.

“I’ll call you if I need anything else,” Sehun says, bowing slightly and leaving.

Instead of walking directly to his car, Sehun decides to follow Jongin’s steps. Walking past the bus stop is a street of small shops and a large mall overshadowing it. There’s nothing more. He walks a little past that but only sees more shops and convenience stores. The district they’re in isn’t the best, but it’s certainly not the worst. Relatively safe and a good amount of people walking around, Sehun can’t figure out how someone would go missing here. More importantly, he can’t figure out where Jongin went after leaving.

His phone rings just then.

“Oh Sehun speaking.”

“Hello, sir. It’s Kang Seulgi.” One of the junior officers.

“What is it?” Sehun asks, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.

“We’ve found a survivor of a kidnapping attempt by our killer.”

Sehun freezes.

“What did you just say?”

“A man by the name of Kim Jongdae came in as a previous victim of our killer.”

“Keep him there,” Sehun says, already jogging back to his car. “I’ll get there in fifteen minutes.”

He makes it in twelve and manages to stay within the speed limit.

“Sir, this is Kim Jongdae,” Seulgi introduces when he walks into the interrogation room.

A smaller man with a handsome, square face gets up to shake his hand. Sehun forgot to put his gloves back on earlier, so he pretends not to see it as he pulls out the case files.

“Hello, I’m Detective Oh Sehun.” He gestures for Jongdae to sit without looking at him. Sehun stays standing while Seulgi and Jongdae seat themselves. “Why did you come in today?”

“I got a call from an officer about a kidnapping that happened to me a few years ago.”

Sehun looks to Seulgi in question.

“It was Detective Lee, sir.”

Sehun nods and turns back to Jongdae. He needs to have a talk with his partner.

“It happened in February of 2012,” Sehun reads off the files.

“Yes,” Jongdae says. He’s been smiling politely this entire time but it falters as he waits for Sehun to continue with the details.

“Could you explain the event for us?”

“Um, yes.” Jongdae looks to Seulgi for a second as if for reassurance. When she nods, he begins.

“I was walking home from hagwon one evening. I took my usual route home, but in the middle of it, someone came up behind me and hit me hard enough that I blacked out.”

Every word is said hesitantly and Jongdae has a grim look on his face as he stares down at the steel table.

“When I came to, there was a plastic bag tied over my head and my hands were tied with a cable tie. He was working on tying my feet. Before he could finish, something made him stop and he stood up. After a pause, he told me he would be right back and left the room. When I heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, I got up and began feeling my way out.”

“How did you know it was the front door he left through?”

“I could hear the sound of people talking on the streets much clearer,” Jongdae answered.

Sehun nodded and let him continue.

“I managed to make it out onto the street and I kept shuffling forward until some night patrol officers found me.”

Sehun doesn’t say anything as he absorbs Jongdae’s story. He wants to reach for his hand, to see what he’s seeing, but he’s afraid of how hard it’ll be to get back out of his head.

“Can you remember what had him leave?” Sehun asks after a moment of deliberation. He won’t enter his memories. He already got plenty of information and he doesn’t need to come out of the interrogation room traumatized.

“I’m not sure, but it sounded like there were men outside.”

“Do you know how long you walked for?”

“About ten minutes.”

“How fast would you say you were walking?”

“As fast as I could without falling. Half jogging.”

“Are you sure the kidnapper was a man?”

“Yes,” Jongdae says. He shudders a little as he explains, “He had a lower voice and to knock me out that easily… it’d be hard for a woman to do.”

“How old do you think he was?”

“He didn’t seem too old. When he told me to wait he touched my arm and his skin was smooth.”

“How hard was it for you to see?”

“I could only see the streetlights. Everything else was a blurry mass.”

“This is a sensitive question, but I have to ask,” Sehun pauses for a moment, unsure of how to phrase it. “Were you feeling depressed during this time?”

“I think I was hovering somewhere around there emotionally,” Jongdae answers. “I was going through senior year and worried about college.”

Sehun closes the case file and looks down at Jongdae.

“Thank you for your time. I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” Sehun says with a frown.

“Thank you for listening,” Jongdae responds. As Sehun turns to leave, Jongdae adds, “He’s haunted me for seven years now, detective. Please catch him.”

“I’ll do my best,” Sehun answers. There’s a hardness to his voice that Jongdae must notice because a small, sad smile plays on his lips.

“Thank you.”

Sehun leaves the room thinking through his new information and walks to his desk, situated right beside Taemin’s.

“You know you aren’t on this case, right?” Sehun asks, throwing the case file down on his own desk.

“I figured you needed a hand,” Taemin answers with a lazy spin of his chair. “I was looking through files and I happened upon Kim Jongdae’s case.”

“You’re working on a robbery, why were you going through the kidnapping files?”

Taemin laughs and leans back further in his chair.

“You caught me, Oh. I was looking stuff up for your case.”

He grins and stands up with the grace of a cat.

“I figured you wouldn’t mind my help.”

“Thank you,” Sehun finally says, sitting down.

“No problem.” Taemin taps another file on Sehun’s desk. “I found something else.”

Before Sehun can open the file, Taemin straightens and stretches.

“I have to get going, but let me know what you think.”

“I will,” Sehun promises.

“Are we still on for dinner?” Taemin checks.

“Yeah, text me,” Sehun replies.

“Will do,” Taemin says, grinning and leaving.

Once his partner is gone, Sehun opens the case file. Flipping through them, it seems to be a string of unsolved murders during 2011. None of them happened in the same area, but each was strangled and then dumped in corners of small neighborhood streets.

Sehun narrows his eyes when he flips to the crime scene photos. Familiar rope burns and black plastic bags greet him and he realizes why Taemin gave these to him.

~

“Back again, detective?” Yixing asks as he looks up from his computer.

Sehun grabs a stool and sits down beside him.

“Could you look at this for me?” Sehun asks, handing him the 2011 case file.

“Sure.” Yixing puts on his glasses and opens it. “Another serial homicide?”

“Look at the pictures.” Sehun helps Yixing flip to the right page.

“Damn,” Yixing breathes, looking up to meet Sehun’s eyes. “When were these from?”

“2011,” Sehun answers, watching the doctor’s reaction closely.

“His first attempts,” Yixing murmurs, running a finger along the rope burns in one of the pictures.

“You think this is the same person?” Sehun asks.

“You can never be one hundred percent sure, but it looks exactly the same. A little less controlled because you can see how much more the rope rubbed up and down on this victim’s neck, but I’d say that this was the same person.” Yixing points to a part of the rope burn that blooms outward, like a little knob on the rope. “One of my assistants fishes in his free time and he said that the odd shape on the neck is because the rope was knotted around the neck before the victims were strangled.”

“It shows up on our current case as well then?” Sehun asks.

“Yes,” Yixing confirms.

“I just talked to a man who was kidnapped by our killer, but he managed to escape,” Sehun says. “It happened in February 2012.”

“He made it out alive?” Yixing asks in amazement.

“Yes.” Sehun raps the file. “I think this was a learning curve, but our killer messed up with the man I spoke to today and he ended up changing his method of disposal.”

“Because he was afraid of getting caught,” Yixing surmises. “Instead of dumping them in a public area, he decided it’d be less risky to bury them in the forest.”

Sehun nods in agreement.

“But wouldn’t he have to be very strong to accomplish all of this?” Yixing asks. “To move these bodies around?”

“He knocks them out before taking them,” Sehun adds. “He could use weapons and a car.”

“That seems too conspicuous,” Yixing says, pointing to the details on the documents. “The streets listed here are small. A car, no matter what size, would stand out like a sore thumb. It says here there were no witnesses because nothing of note was seen.”

“Then how did he do it?” Sehun asks himself.

“Maybe you should talk to someone else about this,” Yixing says with a frown. “I’m not very good at thinking through stuff like this.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sehun says, retrieving the file from Yixing.

“No problem. I’ll let you know when I finish getting that receipt rendered.”

“Alright,” Sehun says with a wave. “I’ll be waiting.”

~

Taemin and Sehun meet up at their usual noodle shop. The place is unremarkable, but the food is great.

“So,” Taemin says, watching Sehun slurp up his noodles. “Lay it on me.”

Sehun swallows his food and takes a gulp of water.

“Twelve victims spaced out evenly for four years. All the same M.O. except for the last one, which is when the murders seemed to have stopped.”

“Common thread among the victims?”

“All male, all exhibiting some sign of depression. They lived within a seven-mile radius of each other.”

“That’s pretty close,” Taemin says, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together.

“All of them were taken at night.” Sehun racks his brain trying to think of everything else.

“What about the cases I gave you?” Taemin asks.

“They were the first few tries as the killer was perfecting his method. Kim Jongdae said he was a man, but not an older one. He lived on the first floor of his building because Jongdae was able to get out relatively easily. Probably a strong guy.”

“Based on how cleanly he seemed to knock them out maybe he had some martial arts experience,” Taemin suggests. “From the pictures, it doesn’t seem there are any signs of a struggle from the victims.”

“There was a receipt found in the pocket of the last victim,” Sehun says. “Doctor Zhang is trying to make it readable. It may be one of the last places he was seen alive.”

“Hm.” Taemin steals Sehun’s chopsticks and begins eating out of his bowl, ignoring Sehun’s disapproving stare. “Are you going to talk to a psychologist?”

“I’m scheduled to meet up with Minseok hyung tomorrow.”

“Well then,” Taemin says with a groan of satisfaction as he eats. “I suppose you’re going to have to wait till tomorrow.”

“Build a profile for me,” Sehun requests. “Just a verbal one. I want to hear what you think about the killer.”

“Okay,” Taemin agrees. “A younger man. Either very strong or has some expertise in some sort of martial arts. Most likely good at keeping a low profile. Not someone you would notice if he walked past you. Attracted to depressed people, maybe he’s depressed himself?”

“He must kill only men for a reason,” Sehun adds.

“All of our victims were conventionally handsome, weren’t they?” Taemin says.

Sehun watches Taemin eat and thinks about it. “I suppose.”

“Maybe he was jealous of them.”

“Maybe,” Sehun says, a little more unsure about Taemin’s idea. “Or maybe…”

When Sehun trails off, Taemin stops eating. “Maybe what?”

“Nothing,” he says with a wave of his hand. “Finish the noodles.”

“These are your noodles,” Taemin replies, but he continues eating them like there’s no tomorrow.

“How’s your case going?”

“It’s going,” Taemin answers through a mouthful of noodles. “Nowhere near as big as yours though.”

“You were the one who decided to pursue it,” Sehun reminds him.

“I always finish what I start,” Taemin replies with a sly smile. “And I don’t have even a fraction of as much paperwork as you do.”

Sehun just shrugs. He hasn’t been able to sleep very well so in his off time he works on the paperwork.

“You haven’t been sleeping properly, have you?” It’s a rhetorical question. Taemin knows him too well.

“I’ll be fine once I get this case over with.”

“You got it about a week ago. I know our precinct considers you a legend, but there’s no need to rush through this. You’ll be just as cool if you finish it a week or two later.”

“Taemin,” Sehun says in an exasperated voice.

“Yeah, yeah, you need to be as efficient as possible,” Taemin says before Sehun can. “I just wish you’d taken the break the chief had offered you. Do you even do anything for fun anymore?”

Sehun glares at Taemin and his partner sighs.

“Well, I would wish you luck, but that would just speed up this case.”

“I don’t need luck.”

“Okay.”

~

The next day, Sehun drives over to Minseok’s office. He works with the psychologist pretty often on more complicated cases, so the secretary lets him in without much fuss.

“Sehun,” Minseok says, getting up to greet him. “How have you been?”

“Busy,” Sehun answers, reaching out to shake Minseok’s hand. He has his gloves on today.

The psychologist’s office is brightly lit with plenty of windows and a pastel color scheme. There’s a grey couch in the middle of the room with a matching chair next to it where Minseok usually sits. Minseok himself is dressed in a light blue sweater to match the room. With his round glasses and soft features, he looks more like a high school student than a practicing doctor.

“How are you?” Sehun asks in return.

“Fine,” Minseok answers with a smile. “Please, sit down.”

Sehun does. Minseok joins him on the long couch and waits for him to set things up.

“This is where the bodies were disposed of,” Sehun says, laying out a series of pictures of the forest and the holes dug out.

Minseok picks them up one by one as Sehun begins sorting his other photos.

“Twelve bodies were found there. Eleven out of the twelve were bound by cable ties on their hands and feet-” Sehun places the photos of the bodies down. Minseok doesn’t have much trouble with graphic things. “-with a black plastic bag over their head and then wrapped up in a potato sack. They were strangled from the front.”

Minseok is silent as he continues to examine the pictures.

“The last victim had cable ties and the black plastic bag, but he was strangled from behind and wrapped in a blanket.”

“Do you know how deep the holes were?” Minseok asks.

“About four feet down.”

“All of them were even in height?”

“Very.”

Minseok sets the pictures down.

“What’s the general profile of the victims?”

“Younger men between the ages of twenty-one to thirty-two. All exhibit signs of depression.”

Sehun lays down the pictures of the victims.

“All rather handsome as well,” Minseok observes, picking up the picture of Kim Jongin.

“A victim who managed to escape said that the attacker was a man.”

“A younger one, I presume?” Minseok asks.

“Yes,” Sehun answers. “What do you think so far?”

“Is the murder done violently?”

“No, very cleanly.”

“I believe we’re dealing with a highly intelligent young man,” Minseok starts. “But a very insecure one. The precision of the holes that were dug out as well as the entire way he operates shows his careful planning, but the location where he buries the bodies, as well as the plastic bag over the head, shows his unwillingness to be seen.”

“I have reason to believe that he had committed three more murders before these twelve. But with the previous three, he killed them the same way, but disposed of the bodies on the corners of smaller neighborhood streets.”

Minseok’s forehead wrinkles as he thinks. “More daring than I thought. Although he’s probably still a very reserved person.”

“Do you think it’s possible that he has some experience in martial arts?” Sehun asks.

“I don’t think it’s _im_ possible,” Minseok answers. He’s still staring at the pictures of the victims. His eyes narrow as he picks up a picture of another victim, the eighth victim Im Jaebum. “I think the subject could be repressed.”

“Repressed? By who?”

“Not who,” Minseok replies. “Most times a male will choose to kill a female, whether it’s a power rush or a hatred, there are many reasons. But this man chose to kill other men. Many times this is a sign of self-hatred or jealousy. Because of the lack of violence in these killings, I think it’s self-hatred. The subject might be homosexual.”

Sehun nods along, taking a better look at the photos. It makes sense.

“Is there any importance in the knot and rope used in strangulation instead of hands?”

“He was probably trying to be more efficient. End it quickly, but still be able to control how fast the victim died.” Minseok inhales a little faster when he seems to realize something. “He needs to control things. He probably has some level of OCD.”

“So wherever he works and lives will be clean and organized?” Sehun asks.

“Based on these cases, his workplace would be beyond organized. Everything would have to be perfectly in place and the place would probably be scrubbed till it shined.”

There’s a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Minseok calls out.

His secretary peeks her head in the door.

“Sir, your ten o’clock is here.”

“Okay, thank you, Sooyoung-ssi. We won’t be a minute.”

Sooyoung bows and closes the door.

“Thank you for this,” Sehun says, gathering up his things.

Minseok smiles in return. “I’ll call you if I think of anything else.”

“Let me know if you need any of the materials again,” Sehun says, before he bows. He can’t leave confidential documents with the psychologist, but he has no trouble coming over to let him look over the files.

“I will.” Minseok opens the door for him. “Stay safe, Sehun.”

“I’ll try my best,” Sehun replies.

As he exits the building, he gets a call from Seulgi.

“Yes?”

“Sir, we’ve found someone matching the description of our twelfth victim and Doctor Zhang believes he’s figured out the identity of the third victim.”

“Who confirmed the identity of the twelfth?”

“A former co-worker of his. He’s with me right now.”

Yixing will have to wait.

“Stay put. I’ll be there soon.”

Once he gets to the station, he spots Seulgi sitting with a tall, gangly man dressed in baggy overalls at her desk.

“Sir,” Seulgi says, standing up once she sees him.

Sehun signals for her to sit down.

“Hi,” the man says with a wide, nervous smile.

“This is Park Chanyeol, sir. He’s the coworker of victim number twelve.”

“That’s a little cold,” Chanyeol says with a too-loud laugh to match with his smile. “Although it kind of suits Kyungsoo.”

Sehun pulls up a chair and introduces himself. “I’m Detective Oh Sehun. I’m heading the investigation.”

“Oh, wow,” Chanyeol says with another laugh. There’s a wavering quality to it, but it’s just as loud as before.

“Could you tell me about your friend?”

“Yeah, um, his name is - was,” Chanyeol chuckles nervously. “Do Kyungsoo. Wow, referring to him in past tense is going to be hard.”

Sehun glances at his hands. There’s coal dust underneath his fingernails.

“He disappeared almost three years ago a few days after New Years.”

“Did he give any sign he was going anywhere?”

“No, never. He seemed more like the type that didn’t want to get up in the morning,” Chanyeol says, smile turning into a frown that resembles a pout. “We lived together with a few other miners, so I didn’t notice he was gone till the next morning.”

“What would you say about Do Kyungsoo’s state of mind leading up to his disappearance?”

“Well,” Chanyeol pauses. “He did seem to be a little happier. Before that, he was always kind of tired and depressed.”

“Happier?” Sehun asks.

“Yeah. He didn’t look as gloomy all the time and sometimes he stopped wearing his headphones and talked to people.”

Something’s off. Sehun can practically taste it; it’s so close.

“Sir, Chanyeol-ssi brought Do Kyungsoo’s leftover belongings.”

“Oh, yeah.” Chanyeol bends down to get something from underneath his chair. “We got rid of his clothes, but he only had a small box of things, and I couldn’t bear to just throw it away, so…”

Chanyeol holds up a box of belongings.

“Here,” he says, setting it on top of Seulgi’s already cluttered desk.

“Thank you,” Sehun says, reaching in and grabbing the first thing he sees. An old walkman.

“Oh, Kyungsoo’s mother left that with him,” Chanyeol says, shifting from side to side in his seat and watching Sehun pop open the device.

“There’s no tape.”

“What?” Chanyeol asks, sounding surprised. “Kyungsoo always had one tape in there.”

“What tape was it?”

“It was full of sad, old ballads,” Chanyeol says, peering into the box himself as if he can’t believe it. “He always had it in there. There’s no way he would take it out.”

Sehun carefully sifts through the other things in the box. A few dusty books, some pens, and pencils.

“Did he have a phone?” Sehun asks.

“Yeah, but he didn’t really use it,” Chanyeol says. “He only had it just in case the boss called. It was a pay-by-the-minute flip phone. I don’t know where it is.”

“Okay.” Sehun stops going through the box and turns to face Chanyeol. “Thank you for coming in, Chanyeol-ssi.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Chanyeol says with an uncomfortable smile.

“I might contact you again with some follow-up questions if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, I always have my phone on me, so…” Chanyeol laughs again, but he looks like he wants to book it out of the room.

“Then, have a good day,” Sehun says with a nod of his head.

“Uh, yeah, you too,” Chanyeol answers, before bowing and leaving.

“I have to go visit Doctor Zhang,” Sehun says to Seulgi. “Keep this box safe until I get back.”

“Yes, sir,” Seulgi says.

Sehun leaves the building and heads to his car. Two solved identities in one day, Sehun feels uneasy with his luck.

It only takes a few minutes until Sehun is back at the lab.

“Finally here?” Yixing asks, not looking up from some document.

“Sorry, Seulgi might’ve found the identity of the twelfth victim.”

“Oh, your game changer?” Yixing asks, now excited.

“Yes.” Sehun sits down next to the doctor. “What have you found out about our third victim?”

“His name is Kim Taehyung and he is now our youngest victim at the age of seventeen.”

Sehun shuts his eyes. “Not twenty-one?”

“No,” Yixing confirms. He pulls up a picture of a young man with a bright, boxy grin. “It took awhile but we found it. He was charged with petty theft a few weeks before he died, so we have him in the system and I managed to find viable DNA.”

“You’ve worked hard,” Sehun says.

“I know,” Yixing says with a grin. “But you know I can just email you what I find out right? You don’t need to keep driving here.”

“I want to hear and see it for myself,” Sehun replies.

“Wow,” Yixing says with a nod. “The paranoia is really coming through.”

Sehun just shrugs and scrolls through Kim Taehyung’s information.

“Learn anything new from him?” Yixing asks, nodding at the computer screen once Sehun finishes looking through the file.

“No,” Sehun replies. “Just that we have a new maknae.”

“Wow, that’s dark,” Yixing says with a sigh. When Sehun doesn’t respond, Yixing moves on. “I’ll have the receipt ready by tonight.”

“Okay.”

“So you’re swinging by again?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, see you then,” Yixing says, looking at Sehun, amused.

“Thank you,” Sehun says, finally getting up.

“Just doing my job,” Yixing replies.

~

Sehun returns to the station and gestures for Seulgi to follow him into a conference room, picking up the box himself.

“Help me look through this,” Sehun instructs as he begins taking the belongings out one by one.

Seulgi rushes to follow him and they get everything out in under a minute. There really aren’t that many things.

The pens and pencils are returned to the box immediately as are the novels.

“Sir,” Seulgi says, holding up a battered book. “I think this was his diary.”

Sehun looks on next to her as she opens it up.

“Go to the last few pages,” Sehun directs.

She does as he says and they end up staring at Do Kyungsoo’s neat handwriting on Christmas Day.

_The coal dust doesn’t bother me today. I see it all over me and sometimes I can feel it coating my insides like some kind of fungus, but today it’s okay. We get the day off today, but I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe I’ll go and visit him again._

It isn’t signed off and there’s no other elaboration on who Kyungsoo is going to visit.

“Go to the next entry.”

It’s dated the day after.

_My roommates drank again last night. I couldn’t fall asleep because of it, so I hid the soju. I went to the usual place to see if he was there last night and he was. I guess I’m not the only one with no plans on Christmas. Feels kind of nice, I guess. Turns out he listens to Cho Yong Pil too. I showed him my cassette tape and he seemed to like it. I might go again today. It’s not that weird to visit a convenience store every day, is it?_

“Sir, do you think that he’s writing about our culprit?” Seulgi asks, looking up from the journal.

“I don’t know. Keep reading,” Sehun says impatiently.

The next entry is New Year’s Eve.

_Chanyeol gave me a late Christmas present. It’s the pen I’m writing with right now. It’s .32 mm. I guess he isn’t too bad after all. We got today off as well because the boss wanted to party. I think I’m going to make some seaweed soup. It may not be my birthday yet, but I should be able to drink seaweed soup whenever I want, right?_

There’s no mention of the man this time.

“When is Do Kyungsoo’s birthday?” Sehun asks suddenly.

“Um…” Seulgi puts down the book and pulls out the file she accidentally brought into the room. “January 12, 1993, sir.”

Killed a few days before his birthday then.

“Next entry,” Sehun says curtly.

Seulgi turns the page and it’s the day before he disappeared. January 2.

_I think I need to stop drinking so much banana milk. Hyunsik keeps giving them to me. I can get much cheaper banana milk at the convenience store. Speaking of the convenience store, I walked him home yesterday. It was raining despite the cold weather and I had remembered to bring an umbrella. He didn’t, so I ended up walking him home. It was a bit awkward, but he smiled before he left. He had a nice smile. It made me want to smile. It’s been a while since I’ve smiled, hasn’t it?_

“Next,” Sehun says, but Seulgi is already on the next page.

“That’s the last entry, sir.”

Sehun slams his hand down a little too hard and Seulgi jumps beside him.

“Can you find the first entry that mentions this convenience store man?” Sehun asks, trying to calm himself down. He takes a deep breath and hears the officer flip through the pages of the diary.

“I think I found it,” Seulgi says as Sehun paces.

“Read it, please.”

_It’s been getting colder, but it doesn’t bother me too much, especially when I don’t have much time to go out anyway. I met someone new today. Well, actually, I ran into him. I think he was the convenience store clerk. It was embarrassing, mainly because I broke all the eggs in my bag, but he offered to pay for them. I didn’t take him up on his offer, but that was kind of nice. I guess I need to look up more when I walk._

“When was this written?”

“November 13,” Seulgi answers. Sehun gestures for her to hand him the diary.

“Can you file the rest of this away for evidence?” Sehun asks, grabbing Do Kyungsoo’s file. He’s already halfway out of the room when Seulgi says yes.

“How’s your case going?” Taemin asks as Sehun sits down at his desk.

“I think I’ve found out where he works,” Sehun replies, opening a web browser and opening Kyungsoo’s profile up to find his home address.

“Where?” Taemin asks, moving to sit next to Sehun.

“A convenience store.”

Taemin’s chair screeches to a halt, making other officers look up in surprise.

“There are over 40,000 convenience stores in Korea, Sehun.”

“I realize that,” Sehun says with a sigh, opening up a map. “But I should be able to narrow down the area.”

Taemin finishes pulling his chair up as Sehun types in Kyungsoo’s address.

“The twelfth victim visited the convenience store the killer worked at very often, so it can’t be too far from his home.”

“What if he took the bus?” Taemin suggests.

“Our last victim lived frugally. He wouldn’t waste bus money.”

“Hm,” Taemin says, looking down at Kyungsoo’s picture. He has a strong jaw and wide, owlish eyes.

“How far would you be willing to walk to find a convenience store?” Sehun asks as his mouse hovers over the digital map.

“A mile at the most, and even that’s stretching it,” Taemin answers, looking back up to watch Sehun zoom in. He filters his search so that it only shows convenience stores in the area.

“That narrowed it down,” Sehun says.

“Yeah,” Taemin agrees. “To the ever-minuscule number of forty-two.”

“It’s better than before,” Sehun replies, not missing his partner’s sarcasm.

“I suppose.”

Sehun stares at the screen and frowns.

“What is it?” Taemin asks.

“Should I just go to all the stores here?”

“If you want,” Taemin says, frowning as well now. “But that’s still a lot of stores to get through. You should probably start now.”

“It’s too early. He targeted his victims at night which mean he probably worked later into the night.”

“Then you get to do your favorite thing in the world,” Taemin says with an annoyingly pleased grin. “Wait.”


	2. Chapter 2

The second his phone rings, Sehun leaps out of his chair and runs for his car.

“The receipt is done and I think you’ll be very happy to see this,” Yixing practically sings over the phone.

Sehun is speeding again. It’s seven at night and he’s been itching to move for the past two and a half hours. Taemin has his own work to get to, so Sehun was left going over victim reports and reviewing the case over and over again. Suffice to say, he doesn’t want to waste any more time.

“Ah, my favorite detective,” Yixing greets, waving Sehun over when he enters the room. His computer displays a receipt. “Is this what you were looking for?”

Sehun looks down at a grainy recreation of what Kyungsoo originally had in his pocket. The prices are irretrievable and there’s no indication of an address anywhere, but as he looks at it he feels his heart beat a little faster.

“7-Eleven,” Sehun murmurs, reaching out to touch the logo at the top of the digital receipt.

Yixing nods, looking very pleased.

“This is all I need,” Sehun says, standing back up. “Sorry for keeping you here.”

“It’s fine,” Yixing says with a laugh and walking with Sehun to the door. “I’m going to go home and sleep now.”

“Thank you again, hyung,” Sehun says before leaving.

Before Sehun leaves, he pulls up the map on his phone and looks up the amount of 7-Eleven’s in the area near Kyungsoo’s apartment.

Six.

Sehun gets going, and as he nears his destination, he catches sight of Jongin’s office building. It’s only a few blocks away from Kyungsoo’s home.

Parking on the side of the street, Sehun pauses, staring at the 7-Eleven in front of him. For a while, he stays there. He’s so close. But he knows just going to each 7-Eleven and looking for the culprit won’t be that easy, so he calls Minseok.

“Sehun,” Minseok says pleasantly. “What can I help you with?”

“I just wanted to confirm something you said earlier,” Sehun says.

“Go ahead.”

“You said the killer likes his spaces clean and organized, correct?”

“Yes,” Minseok confirms.

“If he worked at a convenience store then how excessively clean would the place be?”

“Not just clean,” Minseok reminds him, “but everything will be orderly to a fault. The shelves are most likely color-coordinated and there won’t be a single thing out of place. Clean straight lines will be apparent and anytime something is knocked out of place, the subject probably won’t be able to stand still until it gets fixed. He’s highly averse to change.”

“Are there any other cues I should look for?”

“He’ll most likely avoid making eye contact and speak softly.”

“Thank you,” Sehun says, jotting down everything Minseok just said.

“Anytime, Sehun,” Minseok replies.

Sehun finally gets out of his car and approaches the first store. The second he walks in, he knows he has the wrong place. It’s grimy and quite a few things are stocked haphazardly.

He leaves after a quick look.

The next one is much cleaner, but the store is still messy. When he flashes his badge and asks for a list of employees, the results are disappointing. He calls Seulgi who’s still in and asks her to check the list of names, but all he gets are a few high school students and one aging woman.

After two more stores with no results, Sehun begins to doubt himself. Maybe he moved. Maybe he’s left Korea knowing he’d eventually be caught.

Two more stores. He has two more stores. Sehun shakes out of his daze and gets out of his car. He’ll lament if there are no results after searching all six stores.

Sehun steps into the fifth store, significantly less expectant, but no less alert. Immediately, he notices the clean aesthetic of the store. Sehun sees a man manning the counter and pretends to look for something. Everything is stacked crisply and it seems that each section is color-coordinated according to food type.

_Anytime something is knocked out of place, the subject probably won’t be able to stand still until it gets fixed._

Sehun accidentally knocks over an entire row of chips and he sees the man jolt from the noise. Sehun can’t quite tell how old he is because he looks down at his hands.

“Cold outside, isn’t it?” Sehun says suddenly. The man jolts again and nods without looking up. His hand seems to twitch.

Sehun messily puts back the chip bags and pretends to look through the fridges, watching the man through the reflection of the glass door. He keeps adjusting his uniform and glancing at the section of chips Sehun ruined.

Sehun closes the fridge with a bang and pretends to look around some more then pulls out his phone.

“Sir?” Seulgi picks up.

“Hey, babe, I’m at the 7-Eleven on Donggi-ro. You know the one next to where Junmyeon and I work. I think I finally found the ramyun I’ve been looking for.”

“Donggi-ro, 7-Eleven. I’ll tell back up immediately.”

“No, there’s no need for you to come. I promise I won’t eat it all myself,” Sehun says, smiling like he’s joking. “I’ll call you if I find something else.”

“Are you sure, sir? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Seulgi asks.

“Seriously,” Sehun says, watching the man from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly the employee gets up and Sehun tenses. But he just walks to the chip section and fixes the chips.

“Go take the dogs for a walk or something. I’ll call you soon.”

“Yes, sir,” Seulgi replies and Sehun hangs up.

“My girlfriend’s been looking for this dumb sweet potato flavored ramyun for ages,” Sehun says, holding up a pack of it as he says so.

The man just nods and finishes adjusting the chip bags. But now that he’s closer Sehun can see his face. It’s youthful, so he can’t quite figure out how old he is. His baggy uniform also hides any sign of strength. If Sehun just glanced at him quickly, he wouldn’t think the man could do any heavy-lifting.

Sehun pulls off one of his gloves and approaches the cash register with the sweet potato ramyun.

“That’ll be 2000 won,” the man says monotonously. He’s handsome with naturally downturned lips and a harmless look about him, but Sehun catches sight of a well-muscled arm.

“Right,” Sehun pretends to fumble for his cash. “Here you go.”

Their fingers brush and Sehun is transported.

~

_August 2, 1993_

Sehun stands in the middle of a bare room. A little boy is sitting in the corner sniffling.

“Where’s my darling?” Sehun turns abruptly to see a thin woman enter the room. The boy just shivers and curls into himself more.

“I’m just trying to help you,” she says in a sweet voice. “Let me help you, my baby.”

Sehun watches as she reaches for the boy and scoops him up in her arms.

“I only want to help you,” she says again, brushing away his tears. She looks like mother bear, cradling the boy like that. The boy sniffles again and raises his head to look at her. That’s when Sehun notices the bruises along his neck.

They’re mottled, new bruises upon fading ones.

“Don’t cry,” she says and Sehun sees something new in her deceptively maternal actions. She grips the boy a little too hard and there’s a glimmer of something feral in her eyes. “Soon, we’ll have a bed and a closet and everything will be good again.”

The boy sniffles some more and nods.

“My sweet, sweet boy,” she says, stroking his hair softly. He trembles and shuts his eyes tightly.

~

“Thank you and come again,” the man says, lowering his head a little more to signify a bow.

“T-Thank you,” Sehun replies, taking his plastic bag and trying not to tremble like the little boy did.

Sehun walks back to his car and swallows drily. Sometimes he can feel the emotions of the person he’s touching, but he’s never felt something so potent before. Raw fear seemed to fill the bare room so completely that Sehun felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He knows he should call Seulgi and ask her to send a few officers over, or, at the very least, he should arrest the man. Just their brief interaction was enough to convince him to bring him in, but Sehun is now intrigued. Terrified, but intrigued.

He finds himself waiting again. Covertly, he watches the store from a parking spot a little farther down and waits for the man to get off work. In order to kill all those men, he couldn’t have been working past nine.

While he’s waiting, Sehun gets a call from Seulgi.

“Sir, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Officer Kang,” he says, but he must be too on edge because she notices a change in his voice.

“Sir, has he done something to you?”

“No,” Sehun replies. Nothing he didn’t bring upon himself. “I’m going to trail him so that I can confirm that he’s our guy. You can track where I am through Taemin’s phone. Call him if I don’t answer.”

“Yes, sir,” Seulgi responds, but he can tell she doesn’t like his orders.

He waits for half an hour longer before seeing the man hand off his shift to the next employee. Sehun gets out of his car and begins following him on foot.

The man stops several times to check behind himself, but Sehun manages to hide in the shadows of alleyways and cars and so they continue on.

They finally reach the man’s home and Sehun finally stops hiding.

“You live here too?” he asks loudly. He plasters on a smile that Taemin says “makes you look like a cute kid” and walks over to the man, waving his plastic bag of sweet potato ramyun around.

The man doesn’t seem fooled by his act and hurries to open his door. It opens, but as it does, Sehun jams his foot into the doorway and pushes his way in, eyes blazing. He shuts the door behind him and the two of them stand, facing each other.

“Nice house,” Sehun says, but the smile is completely gone from his face.

He’s shorter than Sehun. That’s the first thing he notices when the man sweeps a leg out and knocks him to the ground.

Definitely some sort of martial arts experience then, Sehun thinks as he blocks a flurry of well-timed blows.

Before the man can do any more damage, Sehun grabs onto his hands tightly and sees the man’s eyes widen as the ground goes out from beneath the two of them.

~

_March 13, 1996_

“Eomma.”

The scene is set on a small street where the little boy from before seems to have grown and is playing with a stray puppy.

Sehun takes a good look at his surroundings. He can sense the man he tailed is here as well, but it seems he isn’t in any tangible form. Just watching from all around like some unseeable god. It’s very rare that Sehun takes other people into their memories with him, but he needs to this time, so that he doesn’t end up as a beaten pulp as he goes through this man’s memories. In the process of going through more memories, Sehun will slowly lose time in the real world. Pulling people in with him forces them to freeze as well.

“It’s a puppy,” the little boy says with an innocent smile on his face.

The woman from before looks slightly older as well as she smiles with him, but the smile seems to be more like an unnatural stretching of the face as she gestures for him to bring it into their home.

Sehun follows the little boy in and sees that the bare room from before has been furnished now. A bed, closet, stove. Some other amenities.

“Bring it here,” she says with that unnatural smile still on her face. She would be beautiful if she weren’t so haggard and her eyes weren’t so chilling.

The little boy follows her orders and brings the puppy to her.

“Let’s make him comfortable,” she says with a smile and Sehun feels a rising sense of horror as she pulls out a small black plastic bag.

The little boy doesn’t seem to know what’s happening and he nods in agreement. Sehun notices he has a small scarf wrapped around his neck despite the warmer weather.

She carefully pulls the bag over the puppy’s head and then ties it around the poor thing’s neck.

“This is how we make him comfortable,” she says in a soft voice. The little boy seems to be catching on to what’s happening and can only open his little mouth just as she tightens her grip on the puppy.

Sehun has to look away when he sees the small animal struggle and the boy lets out an anguished cry.

“Eomma,” he says once she’s thrown the dead puppy back out onto the street with a sadistic grin on her face. “Eomma, why’d you do that?”

“To make him more comfortable, sweetheart.”

“You didn’t make him comfortable,” he whimpers. Sehun is afraid that the woman will do something to him for talking back, but she merely smiles and shakes her head.

“He’s now sleeping comfortably. He’ll never feel pain or sadness again.”

“But what about happiness and hugs?” the little boy asks with tears running down his face now.

“Stupid boy,” she suddenly spits and Sehun takes a step back. “To feel nothing is to be at peace. Don’t you understand?”

She advances on her son like a predator on its prey and yanks the scarf off his neck.

“Come here. Let me show you.” The boy scrambles backward, but there’s nowhere to go. “I’ll make you comfortable, sweetheart.”

“Please,” the little boy whimpers. “Eomma, I’m comfortable already. I’m already co-”

She doesn’t let him finish as she reaches forward and wraps her thin fingers around his neck. The boy chokes and tries to pry her hands off of him, but he’s too small and weak.

His body goes limp and the memory fades away.

~

_October 27, 2006_

Sehun looks around in confusion as he’s transported to another memory. It’s supposed to end here, but it seems as if the traumatic memory has sent the man propelling them toward another one.

“I’m going to burn every last one of these,” someone snarls. It’s the mother, but she now looks more like a grandmother.

“I’m sorry, eomma,” the boy, now a teenager, says with a pleading look in his eyes. “It was an accident. I was keeping them for a friend.”

“Friend?” His mother whips her head around and she has a ferocious smile on her face. The boy takes a step back, despite looking much stronger than her now. There are a row of gleaming trophies for hapkido on the wall behind him. “You don’t have any friends.”

The boy flinches from the words and gets down on his knees. He bows so that his head is touching the floor.

“Eomma, they aren’t mine. I swear.”

Sehun walks around to see exactly what they’re talking about. It’s a stash of racy magazines, but instead of a scantily clad woman on the front, it’s a shirtless man.

_Repressed._

“How-” His mother kicks him in the side and sends him sprawling. “-can-” Another kick. “-I-” Another one. “-believe-” She kicks him into the wall as she heaves, tired from kicking him. “-that?”

The boy curls in on himself and Sehun can easily see the parallels between this young man and the scared little boy he first saw.

The scene ripples and Sehun feels himself getting ripped out of the memory again and yanked into another one.

~

_February 14, 2012_

Valentine’s Day.

Sehun follows the boy, now a man, down a dark street. He seems to be stalking someone.

The boy he’s stalking is humming to himself. He’s wearing a uniform and has his backpack on.

It takes Sehun a moment, but he realizes it’s Kim Jongdae.

Once they pass a familiar street, the street Sehun followed this man on a few minutes ago, the man comes up behind Jongdae, lightning fast, and knocks him out with one blow.

He puts an arm around him and Sehun watches as he carries him like one would support a drunk man. It’s late at night and no one is out, so he gets to his home with no problem. He brings Jongdae in through the door and takes the teenager’s backpack off, setting it by the door.

He continues past the entrance and brings Jongdae to the bathroom where he sets him in the shower. Quickly, he ties a black plastic bag around his head and gets the zip ties on when Jongdae suddenly wakes. He breathes heavily, from fear and stays still, sensing it to be too dangerous to move. After a moment, he goes limp and the man nods, thinking he’s fainted.

Suddenly, someone shouts outside and the man’s head shoots up. When the outsiders don’t leave, he murmurs to Jongdae, touching his arm gently and leaves. Sehun follows him, knowing what happens to Jongdae already.

The man leaves his house and comes face to face with two police officers.

“Hello, sir,” one officer says with an amicable nod. Sehun’s eyes widen as he recognizes one of the men as his partner.

“We’re just doing a quick check around the neighborhood,” Taemin says with a grin. “Everything good here?”

“Yes,” the man says with a small smile. It seems much more natural for him than his mother. “Although I did hear something going on down the street,” he says, pointing to where a party does seem to be raging.

“Ah, we were just about to go check on that,” the police officer who isn’t Taemin says.

“It’s cold. Stay safe,” the man says with a small bow.

“Of course. You too,” Taemin says, grinning.

His partner had been this close to a man who would go on to kill at least twelve more people.

The man has been walking with the officers, trying to lead them away from his own home and has strayed from his own front door. It takes a minute, but when he gets back he sees that Jongdae is gone.

There’s an eerie stillness as the man takes it all in.

“No,” he says softly. What really sets Sehun on edge is how gentle the man in front of him seems. He doesn’t lose his temper like his mother. Instead, he goes back outside to check that there’s no sign of Jongdae and then he squeezes his hands so tightly blood begins dripping down his hands. He stands by the door for a beat longer then heads to his kitchen to wash his hands off.

When he comes back to the entrance, the man doesn’t miss Jongdae’s bag.

He stares at it for a second before opening it up and going through it.

Textbooks, pencils, a few scraps of paper. The contents of the bag are looked through completely, but he can’t seem to find what he’s looking for. Carefully, the man places everything back into Jongdae’s bag and zips it up.

~

_April 27, 2012_

The scene shifts so imperceptibly, the only reason Sehun realizes they’re in another memory is because the man is no longer in the room.

Sehun walks around the house trying to figure out where he is when the front door opens. There are two figures in the doorway.

Sehun takes a step forward to see if he can recognize them.

The man is holding up someone else, but the other man is harder to identify. His head lolls and Sehun realizes he’s witnessing another victim’s kidnapping.

Shuffling forward with the victim, the man brings him into his bathroom and sets him down in the shower gently. Sehun gets a good look at the victim’s face and recognizes him as the first victim, Choi Minho.

Carefully, he ties a plastic bag around his head and gets the cable ties around his hands and feet.

There’s a pause as Sehun braces himself for what’s about to happen.

“Wake up,” the man says. His voice is soothing and attractive as he speaks to his victim. “Hey, wake up.” He pats Minho on the shoulder like one would wake a friend.

Minho wakes up a moment later with a start. It takes a second, but once he realizes he can’t see anything Minho also feels the cable ties and tries to shout. When he does, the man reaches forward and cuts him off with a grip of Minho’s neck.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man says. The timbre of his voice is unchanged, still friendly and inviting.

Minho stops struggling, but his entire body is poised to attack and this doesn’t escape the man’s notice.

“Relax.”

Minho forcibly relaxes at the light touch of the man’s hand to his neck.

“What do you want?” Minho asks in a steely voice.

Sehun recalls what the officer in charge of Minho’s case had told him. Strong, athletic, a generally good-willed man who was in a downward spiral because he had injured his leg and had to quit soccer.

“Just to help you,” the man says. His face is unsmiling.

“How?”

The room seems to still as the man watches Minho.

“I’m going to make you more comfortable.”

“What does that mean? Are you going to rape me?” Minho doesn’t sound afraid, instead, ready to fight.

“No,” the man replies with an appalled look on his face.

There’s another moment of silence, before the man reaches forward and carefully, almost reverently, wraps a rope around Minho’s neck.

“What are you doing?” Minho asks, body tensing up again.

“Making you comfortable.” There’s no other warning as the man tightens the rope and after a moment of frantic struggle, Minho goes still.

“There we go,” the man says in a soft voice. “Better.”

Sehun watches as the man sits there for a moment with Minho’s body and stares up at the shower head. If only Sehun could see what he was thinking about.

After a while, the man gets back up and goes to a small room at the end of the hall. Sehun peers in and realizes this is the man’s supply closet. Everything is stacked neatly on top of each other. Cable ties are put into plastic storage boxes and the potato sacks are folded and clean.

The man grabs a potato sack and returns to the room to get Minho inside of it. Sehun watches, still amazed by how such a weak looking man can carry a body around without much problem.

There’s a bike with a wheelbarrow attached to the back of it. Minho is placed into the wheelbarrow and the man begins biking down the road. Sehun can’t keep up, but he doesn’t need to as he hops onto the wheelbarrow, taking care not to touch the potato sack.

They get to the forest preserve in an hour.

The man is prepared for the ride and has water and a snack with him. Sehun watches as he takes a break and wishes time would speed up.

There’s already a hole in the ground that the man must’ve pre-dug and Minho’s body is carefully placed in it, handled with a reverence a murderer shouldn’t possess.

Once the dirt is thrown over the body, the man kneels on the ground, head touching the dirt.

He stays in that position for about two to three minutes before standing up, brushing himself off, and biking back home.

~

Sehun watches this process happen ten more times. Feeling sick to the stomach, he wonders how this man can carry out each murder so easily but feel the need to bow at the site of each man’s grave.

As he watches, the image of the crying little boy and this killer begin to distance themselves again. Sehun watches with a coldness he didn't know he possessed as the eleventh victim in his case, a foreign exchange student by the name of Kunpimook Bhuwakul, is killed and buried.

He waits for the scene to change. The twelfth victim was the one he was so obsessed with, but now Sehun isn’t sure he even matters anymore. There are too many bodies to grieve over. Do Kyungsoo didn’t even have a family. What does another murder matter?

~

_November 13, 2015_

Sehun looks around in confusion as he’s transported not to the living room of the killer, but instead right outside the convenience store.

“I’m sorry,” the man is saying as he helps a bespectacled man with the remnants of his broken eggs. “How much were the eggs?”

“It’s alright,” the man in glasses replies, looking anywhere but at the man’s face. It’s Do Kyungsoo. “They’re not worth that much.”

“Okay,” the man says, standing up with Kyungsoo.

“Have a good night,” Kyungsoo murmurs before leaving. Sehun watches as he pulls his headphones on and walks away quickly.

~

_November 16, 2015_

Kyungsoo comes into the convenience store and buys a bowl of ramyun, before sitting down at the side counter.

He looks miserable and the man seems to notice this too as he adjusts the row of ramyun Kyungsoo took from.

When Kyungsoo finishes his food, he lets out a quiet sigh and looks out the window at everyone walking by. There’s a blankness to his gaze and this time the man watches his expression blatantly. This must be how he picks out his victims.

Kyungsoo gets up after a few moments and gives a little nod of acknowledgment to the man before leaving. The man returns it and Sehun realizes they must’ve had prior interactions.

A minute later, the man goes over to the counter and finds that Kyungsoo has left his wallet.

His eyes widen and he grabs it, rushing out to catch up to Kyungsoo. Sehun jogs to keep up, his interest peaked. He’s never seen the interactions of the killer with his victims this in depth before.

“You forgot your wallet,” the man says, panting as he hands Kyungsoo his wallet.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo says with a surprised look on his face. He still avoids making eye contact with the man, but there’s a faint glimmer of something other than misery in his eyes as he takes his wallet.

~

_December 12, 2015_

Kyungsoo is fidgeting as he purchases a bag of chocolates and a small energy bar.

“W-What’s your name?” he asks as the man begins to check out his purchases. He nearly drops the bag because of Kyungsoo’s sudden question.

“Baekhyun,” the man replies. He looks so caught off guard, Sehun knows he didn’t have time to lie.

“I’m Kyungsoo.”

The man, Baekhyun, nods, unsure of what to say.

“Your total will be 5400 won,” Baekhyun says after a long awkward pause.

Kyungsoo fishes over the money and then very nervously hands Baekhyun the energy bar before dashing out of the convenience store.

Baekhyun looks down at the energy bar and then back up to the door, confusion coloring his usually expressionless face.

~

_December 25, 2015_

Kyungsoo comes into the convenience store shivering and wearing a threadbare coat.

“Kyungsoo-ssi,” Baekhyun says in surprise, standing up from behind the cash register.

Kyungsoo bows low and looks around the room as if he isn’t sure if he can look Baekhyun in the eye or not.

“There’s a party at my apartment, but I don’t like parties,” Kyungsoo explains awkwardly, still looking away from Baekhyun.

Baekhyun nods, before remembering Kyungsoo isn’t looking in his direction. “I see.”

Sehun cringes at the incredibly awkward atmosphere as Kyungsoo walks down to the ramyun.

“A shipment of your favorite came in,” Baekhyun says. He seems surprised by his own voice.

“Oh.” Kyungsoo looks up with a shy smile on his face and Sehun feels his stomach twist when he realizes that victim number twelve had a crush on the man who would kill him. “I was thinking of trying something new.”

“We have a new seafood one,” Baekhyun pipes up, once again looking a little surprised by his own response, even a little distressed.

“Do you have any really weird flavors?” Kyungsoo asks.

Baekhyun pauses to think about it.

“Well, this isn’t technically out yet, but there’s an Oreo flavored one,” Baekhyun says after a moment of deliberation. He gets up. “Wait one second.”

Kyungsoo stands in the aisle, twisting his hands and a moment later, Baekhyun comes out with a bag of Oreo flavored ramyun.

He hands it to Kyungsoo.

“You won’t get in trouble for giving this to me?”

“No,” Baekhyun says. He has a constant look of shock on his face as if he can’t believe he’s still talking to the bespectacled man in front of him. “I’ve worked here for a while. The boss won’t mind.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo says, finally meeting his eyes. His eyes are shining. “Thank you.”

“Well, no one else comes here as much as you do,” Baekhyun says, looking away from Kyungsoo’s face and walking back to his place behind the counter. “And I owe you for the energy bar.”

Kyungsoo blushes a little when Baekhyun mentions it and looks down at the ramyun packet.

After another awkward moment, Kyungsoo moves to cook his ramyun.

Sehun watches, perched on one of the stools at the side counter. Baekhyun looks uncomfortable like he’s just grown himself another head.

Baekhyun. Sehun looks at the deceptively innocuous man. He finally has a name.

“What are you always listening to?” Baekhyun suddenly asks. His eyes are trained on the register, even though there’s clearly nothing there to look at.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks, looking away from the hot water he had been pouring. “Ah,” he suddenly hisses, when the water spills onto his hand.

“Your headphones,” Baekhyun says, getting up to see if Kyungsoo is okay.

“Oh.” Kyungsoo puts down the ramyun carefully and dries his hand with a napkin. “It’s just an old mixtape my mom made.”

Baekhyun stiffens at the word mom and Sehun can’t help the twinge of pity he feels for the man.

“Oh, your mother?”

“It’s all sad, love ballads,” Kyungsoo informs Baekhyun. His eyes widen when he realizes what he just said. “There’s a lot of Cho Yong Pil,” he adds. Sehun isn’t so sure what has him flustered, but it probably has to do with the genre choice.

“I like Cho Yong Pil,” Baekhyun says in a soft voice, sitting back down.

Kyungsoo looks up in interest. “You do?”

“Yes.” Baekhyun is looking at the cash register again, but there’s an emptiness in his eyes. “He’s comforting.”

“He is,” Kyungsoo agrees, noticing Baekhyun’s sudden change. They don’t say anything else.

~

_January 1, 2016_

It’s raining as Sehun is plunged outdoors into the torrent.

Baekhyun is leaving the store, done with his shift, as Kyungsoo comes out behind him with an umbrella. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to notice the other man and pulls his hoodie over his head, preparing to run. But just as he steps out from under the awning, Kyungsoo thrusts his umbrella over Baekhyun’s head, getting soaked in the process.

Baekhyun turns around in surprise, and in the process, he and Kyungsoo lock eyes.

“D-do you need an umbrella?” Kyungsoo asks, teeth chattering.

“I think you do,” Baekhyun replies, stepping just the slightest bit closer so that Kyungsoo can get under the umbrella as well.

“I can,” Kyungsoo pauses, swallowing nervously, “walk you home.”

In another world, this could be a nice gesture, romantic even, but Sehun watches on nervously as Baekhyun stares at Kyungsoo like he’s grown two heads.

“Really?” Baekhyun asks. He looks genuinely touched by the gesture and the innocent gratitude in his eyes reflects Kyungsoo’s own hopeful expression.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo replies with an awkward shuffle.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun says.

Another awkward moment of silence passes, but the two of them seem used to it by now and begin walking.

The rain is too loud and Sehun can’t hear what they say on the way back, but when they get to the front door he watches as Baekhyun glances at his door and then at Kyungsoo. Sehun’s blood runs cold as he watches.

Kyungsoo is so close and there’s no need for lugging a body around because he’d come in willingly. Sehun knows it and he’s sure Baekhyun does as well. It’s even the right time. Baekhyun has always killed in April, August, and December. He’s a day past December, but the first of January isn’t that far off.

Baekhyun seems on the verge of asking Kyungsoo to come in, but suddenly he shuts his mouth and smiles at Kyungsoo. It’s a bright, brilliant smile and Sehun suddenly has to remind himself that he’s looking at a murderer.

“Thank you for lending me your umbrella, Kyungsoo-ssi,” Baekhyun says. “I owe you.”

Sehun waits for it. He waits for Baekhyun to invite Kyungsoo in. Waits for the final murder he’ll watch today, but there’s a pause and then Baekhyun bows and tells Kyungsoo goodnight and Kyungsoo returns the sentiment before leaving.

He hesitated.

Sehun watches Kyungsoo leave with Baekhyun, who stands by his window watching the younger man go. The rain is pounding around them and Baekhyun looks eerie bathed in the water-stained light, but there’s something terribly human about him in that moment as if he’s realized that something awful is happening. What that something is, Sehun isn’t sure, but he knows that it must be what made Kyungsoo the game changer.

~

_January 3, 2016_

Sehun is outside the convenience store again, where Kyungsoo is leaving. Baekhyun is nowhere in sight, so Sehun follows the smaller man. He has his headphones on, but he looks much happier than usual.

For a few minutes, Sehun trails behind Kyungsoo as he sings softly to the music in his headphones. He has a wonderful voice. Then, out of nowhere, Baekhyun knocks Kyungsoo out with a blow to the back of his neck and Sehun realizes he’s about to witness the twelfth murder.

Baekhyun follows his process, pretending Kyungsoo is drunk and lugging him home. No one gives him a second glance and once Baekhyun gets home, his procedure remains unchanged. He takes the headphones off of Kyungsoo and ties a plastic bag around his head and ties the cable ties around his hands and ankles.

Sehun doesn’t know why, but this murder seems to pierce him deeper than the other eleven he’s watched before.

“Wake up,” Baekhyun says softly. It takes a moment but Kyungsoo wakes up.

“W-What’s happening?” Kyungsoo asks in a shaky voice. He doesn’t struggle with his bonds, he just tries to sit up.

Baekhyun opens his mouth to say something but seems to realize Kyungsoo will recognize his voice. Instead, he puts a hand warningly to Kyungsoo’s neck and waits till the younger stops moving.

“I don’t have any money,” Kyungsoo tries in a soft whisper. “I don’t have anything. I’m not worth anything.”

Sehun watches Baekhyun’s reaction carefully, but there’s not even a hint of empathy or hesitation in his eyes as he knots the rope around Kyungsoo’s neck.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asks. He’s trembling like a leaf and Baekhyun puts a hand over the younger’s to try to stop him from shaking so much.

Baekhyun begins tightening the rope around Kyungsoo’s neck and everything is going according to plan as Kyungsoo begins choking and thrashing around like all the other victims have done, but suddenly, Baekhyun drops the rope and takes a deep breath.

Sehun stares at the man in shock as he sees something akin to fear in Baekhyun’s eyes.

Quickly, Baekhyun turns Kyungsoo around so that the miner isn’t facing him and reties the knot.

“Please,” Kyungsoo begs, realizing what Baekhyun is trying to do. “Please,” he repeats, not quite sure what he’s pleading for other than his life.

Baekhyun swallows drily and tightens the knot around Kyungsoo’s throat and this time when the younger man thrashes Baekhyun holds the ropes firmly and waits until his body stills.

For a moment, the world seems to freeze. Baekhyun is unmoving and the neighborhood is dead silent. Then, Baekhyun drops the ropes, but instead of getting up to grab the potato sack and dispose of the body, he gathers Kyungsoo’s limp body in his arms and takes a few deep breaths.

There’s another moment of silence and then suddenly Baekhyun bursts into tears and clings to the dead man in his arms. Sehun feels his own heart thumping against his chest and has to bite down on his cheek, resisting the urge to join the man in front of him.

The crying turns into sobbing and Baekhyun begins rocking back and forth as if trying to rock Kyungsoo awake. Sehun leaves the room and stands by the window as he listens to Baekhyun’s wails.

It takes about an hour for Baekhyun to settle down. When he finally does, he gets up and instead of going to his supply room, he enters his bedroom and pulls his blanket off his bed. He returns to the bathroom and wraps Kyungsoo up in the blanket with care. His face has become very still and the only sign he had been crying before are his red-rimmed eyes. Before he leaves, Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo’s tape and hides it in his nightstand drawer. What he does with the headphones and walkman, Sehun doesn’t see.

Sehun follows him to the forest where he watches Baekhyun look for the hole he had dug ahead of time. Because of the weather and the prolonged time it took for Baekhyun to get around to killing Kyungsoo, the man has to dig up another hole. By the time he’s done, it’s four in the morning and he risks the danger of being caught. Hurriedly, Baekhyun lowers Kyungsoo’s body into the fresh grave and covers it up.

He bows like he usually does and then leaves as quickly as he can.

~

Sehun’s eyes open and he’s once again back in his own body. Baekhyun’s hands are held tightly in his grasp, and the second Baekhyun comes to, he pushes Sehun away from him. Instead of trying to attack him though, Baekhyun sinks to the ground and curls into an upright fetal position.

“Baekhyun,” Sehun says, his own voice rough with exhaustion.

There’s no answer from the man, but Sehun’s sees tears rolling down his face. Trying to think, the detective looks around the apartment. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to be in any shape to stop him as he stays seated on the ground and Sehun ends up looking through his nightstand drawer.

He comes across an old tape. It’s so old that the labels have rubbed off of it. Sehun grabs it and goes to sit in front of Baekhyun.

“This is Kyungsoo’s, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun doesn’t answer.

“You didn’t kill anyone after him, did you?”

Again, no answer.

“No one ever paid attention to you the way he did,” Sehun says in a soft voice. “You didn’t realize how much he meant to you until it was too late.”

Another tear rolls down Baekhyun’s cheek.

“You haven’t killed anyone in nearly three years,” Sehun continues, “because his death traumatized you.”

Baekhyun stays silent.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun finally says, knowing that his words will mean nothing to the man in front of him.


End file.
